Is it hot enough for you. Here is a column that deals with the dog days of summer. DOG DAYS REDUX I wrote a column in July 2011 titled “Dog Days of Summer” which began with: “As I write this column waiting for my client’s case to be called in an inadequately air-conditioned Wayne County Circuit Court Family Division courtroom, the WWJ weather report this morning (July 21, 2011) saying that the temperature will be 100 degrees (110˚-“Real Feel”) weighs heavily on my heat-infused mind. Well, as I was driving today July 17, 2013 I was listening to NPR talking about the 94 degree + heat here and the boiling 95+ in Washington DC. Later I was in an even hotter Friend of the Court (what an incredible misnomer) courtroom than in 2011. The classic definition of the “dog days of summer” is “sultry days of summer which in the Northern Hemisphere are most commonly experienced in the months of July and August” Wikipedia. Our 6 year old dog Annie knows just how to survive these 90° days – do as little as possible and stay in air conditioning as much as possible. Of course, that is a recipe for how humans as well can also cope with extremely hot, humid days. If we only acted as rationally as our pets, when confronted with the vagaries of nature. The Romans referred to the dog days as diēs caniculārēs and associated torrid weather with the star Sirius because it is the brightest star in the constellation. They sacrificed a brown dog at the beginning of the Dog Days to appease the rage of Sirius. Now Sirius is the name for the premier satellite radio system on which Howard Stern rages. Because humans do not follow our temperate dogs’ lead, tempers grow short in July. Witness the frequently violent protests that broke out all over the country following the George Zimmerman verdict. Road rage, domestic violence, and divorce filings all soar at this time of year. A perfect example of how a dog days conflict got out of control is the focus of the Pulitzer Prize winning “The Guns of August” by historian Barbara Tuchman. She describes how World War I became inevitable due to the inability of Germany, France, Austria-Hungary, England, and Russia to stop the escalating tensions among themselves following the assassination in Sarajevo of Archduke Franz Ferdinand by a Serbian nationalist. Perhaps too much information for the dog days. So how do we get people to calm down in the “dog days”. Traditionally, this is the time many people take vacations. Of course, those who cater to the whims of seasonal vacationers are exposed to the same temper rousing hot and humid conditions, but they are being paid to take care of others. Since this is when they make the bulk of money for the year, they have learned to keep their tempers under control. At least, that’s the theory. Preachers the world over say we should wear life “like a loose garment.” This is great advice, but even more so during the dog days. Annie wears a year round heavy hair coat which she mightily tries to shed at this time of year. My wife and I always spend much of our summers picking up Annie’s discarded hair. We love our dog and, as the Beatles said, “Can’t buy me love.” The 1952 Hit Parade (whatever happened to the Hit Parade) song “How Much is that Doggie in the Window” facetiously tries to quantify a dog’s worth. While we got Annie through the South Haven Animal Shelter at a nominal cost, we have spent three thousand dollars putting up fences at our Dearborn and South Haven houses. Love ain’t cheap, but well worth the price. This year’s dog days seem to be coinciding with a new phenomenon, “duck days,” but the rain is preferable to the drought conditions of the last several years. Complaining about the weather is like complaining about City Hall. That, of course, is the subject of another column.
Posted on: Thu, 18 Jul 2013 19:34:09 +0000
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